Series 3 TCD648250B OLED Lost its Name and Media Access Key

I have 2 Series 3 OLED DVRs with Lifetime. Both bought used and had the product lifetime service transferred to my account. They are both on the same wired network.

Recently I noticed one box lost it's Media Access Key (MAK) and also its DVR name. Under system information it comes up as "Name this DVR on Tivo.com" yet it is still downloading programming data and the box status still shows as Lifetime.

If I go on Tivo.com I can see all the devices with the TSNs listed on my account.

If I go to Device Preferences on Tivo.com I am only shown and able to edit the box that has a Media Access Key.

I am not able to communicate to the unnamed box with Tivo Desktop, Kmttg or via my other DVR (unable to transfer recordings between boxes).

Everything else works fine with both boxes. My DVRs are well-maintained, I replaced all the caps on the power supply boards as a preventative measure to ensure longevity and I vacuum and dust out the innards regularly.

I have contacted Tivo twice regarding this issue, and have three open tickets, and the rep's suggestion is always to restart the box and wait 24 hours, and nothing happens. The lifetime transfer was done awhile ago and the box had been working fine, unless some permissions setting changed on their end?

I remember you used to be able to be escalated directly to Tier 2 support who who have better knowledge of their technical systems, but it seems since they got acquired by Rovi, you always get the "did you try turning it off and on again?" level people.

If I go on Tivo.com I can see all the devices with the TSNs listed on my account.

If I go to Device Preferences on Tivo.com I am only shown and able to edit the box that has a Media Access Key.

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So both show up under Active Tivo devices on the My Account page with the correct name and service, but only 1 shows up on the Device Preferences page? That sounds like something only TiVo is going to be able to fix. You could try opening a ticket through the website versus contacting support via phone.

So both show up under Active Tivo devices on the My Account page with the correct name and service, but only 1 shows up on the Device Preferences page? That sounds like something only TiVo is going to be able to fix. You could try opening a ticket through the website versus contacting support via phone.

Scott

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Thanks for the reply Scott. I have opened an email support ticket, called customer service (another ticket) and then even mailed a letter into corporate with screenshots to visually explain the issue (customer support called back and said they escalated the issue, it's been over a week since last contact and no updates.)

I have both an original S3 648 box and an S3 THD 652 box on my account. At this moment, the THD is active and regularly making connections, and it shows both it's box name and the MAK. The S3 648 has not connected since October 2017, and even though the device list on my other TiVo boxes still shows it with its correct name (but a yellow ! and the message that it could not be found), the box itself does NOT show its own name in the System Information, nor does the MAK show up anywhere.

So it seems that after an old S3 is left off the network long enough, it may "loose" this information? After I eventually let this old box connect again, I'll report back and let you know what happens.

Is the other S3 even shown on the Device Preferences screen? If so, is the "Video Sharing" box checked?

Just for comparison, my S3 that has not connected in 4 months is still shown properly on this screen, even though it does not show its own name in System Information.

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Nope, the other box has never shown on the Device Preferences screen, so I've never had the ability to rename it. I guess Tivo messed something up in their system when they did the transfer. The boxes were able to talk to each other and I could transfer recordings fine a few months ago.

Okay...good news... I got my Media Access key to show up on my new Premiere. I called TiVo support and here is what we did. 1: go to TiVo.com and log into your account. Go to DVR preferences and uncheck both the allow transfers enable video downloads radio buttons for all your Tivos (I have a Premiere and Series 3). Make sure to click save. 2: go to your TiVo Premiere and force a network connection to TiVo. Wait one hour. 3: go back to TiVo.com, log in and back to DVR preferences. Now make sure to check the radio buttons for both allow transfers and enable video downloads. Click save. Go back to your TiVo and force a network connection to TiVo, wait one hour. After an a hour I also unplugged my TiVo and plugged it back in. When it rebooted my Media access key was now under Settings + messages/account + system info. I put the media access key into the TiVo App on my iPad and it connected! Success! Love the new app. Hope this helps anyone that is having issues with a missing media access key on their Premiere. Good Luck!

Kinda hard for the OP to do this since the TiVo with the problem doesn't show up on that page.

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I am pretty sure this is the crux of the problem. Inability to change the name isn't really the issue, but being able to click Enable Transfers. The odd thing was that it was working without issue before, and it is strange for the box to lose both its name and MAK. Must point to a problem with provisioning/permissions on their side.

I spoke with the same rep this morning for 30 min as he walked me through each menu to screenshot them on my phone on both DVRs to email to their tech team. I'll keep you updated how this progresses.

One other thought - you said you bought the box used - when was that? If it was after the S3 --> Bolt Lifetime transfer/upgrade offers last year (first one was around April, 2017, IIRC), then maybe you got screwed by an unscrupulous seller who had used it for an upgrade, so now it is being at least partially "deactivated" on your account?

I know both of my S3 boxes that were used for a Lifetime transfer to the Bolt were never deactivated, but I would never sell them to another person just because they are still working - no telling when or if they will start being doorstops!

One other thought - you said you bought the box used - when was that? If it was after the S3 --> Bolt Lifetime transfer/upgrade offers last year (first one was around April, 2017, IIRC), then maybe you got screwed by an unscrupulous seller who had used it for an upgrade, so now it is being at least partially "deactivated" on your account?

I know both of my S3 boxes that were used for a Lifetime transfer to the Bolt were never deactivated, but I would never sell them to another person just because they are still working - no telling when or if they will start being doorstops!

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Do they still show up in your "Active devices"? The TSN still reports as active on my main Tivo page, and the box is still connects successfully daily and system info displays Lifetime Service. I guess while it is possible there was something unscrupulous going on -- the purchase of used box was a local deal 2 years ago. I met the seller at his address and he contacted Tivo to release and transfer and they notified me that it was moved to my account. But I'd assume no reason to suspect anything on that end.

Yes, both of my S3 boxes that had the Lifetime transferred to a new Bolt still show up both in my account and on the Device screen, and they both still work fine on my LAN to transfer shows.

I have no idea what would happen if I tried to transfer one of the boxes to someone else, but I will not try; because, it is not ethical.

Some people who took advantage of the transfer offers last year have reported their old boxes were disabled, and others have reported they were not (like mine). I do not think there is any way to figure out if one of them is still a valid subscription or not, and I personally would not ever risk buying a used S3 or S4 again just for this reason. Up until the 2017 upgrade/transfer mess, I used to regularly advise that buying a used Lifetime S3 was an excellent option, but not any more.

Yes, both of my S3 boxes that had the Lifetime transferred to a new Bolt still show up both in my account and on the Device screen, and they both still work fine on my LAN to transfer shows.

I have no idea what would happen if I tried to transfer one of the boxes to someone else, but I will not try; because, it is not ethical.

Some people who took advantage of the transfer offers last year have reported their old boxes were disabled, and others have reported they were not (like mine). I do not think there is any way to figure out if one of them is still a valid subscription or not, and I personally would not ever risk buying a used S3 or S4 again just for this reason. Up until the 2017 upgrade/transfer mess, I used to regularly advise that buying a used Lifetime S3 was an excellent option, but not any more.

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Thanks for the info. I spent another 20 minutes on the phone with Executive Support today. Yesterday they had me run 2 sequential manual connections. (I think they forced a full refresh on the first connection because it took as long as a first download in the Guided Setup, and my box makes daily connections) Then they had me unplug the box for 20 seconds, replug it in, and do one more connection. Everything reported successful but of course, the box still didn't get its name or MAK.

I should mention I previously had tried some kickstart diagnostics to see if it was a drive problem.

The rep said he is escalating the case to their "Technical Team". So we'll see where it goes from here.

I just got a call back that the technical team changed some settings on their side and thinks they fixed the issue. The rep wanted me to do the same troubleshooting steps again (2 connections, unplug, connect again) and as I went to the setting page noticed the Media Access Key was there. Under Account Info/System Info the box now has it's name again. I am still unable to change the info on Tivo.com but the rep said it might take 24 hours to show up. That's a minor thing, I am just glad that it is back on the network and can transfer between boxes. So I guess patience and persistence does eventually pay off!